Music Blog

Meme from both HippyDave and Psycho Chicken.

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping your spring. Post these instructions in your blog along with your 7 songs

• Panic Room – Elektra City
• Mostly Autumn – Flowers for Guns
• Mermaid Kiss – Mermaid Kiss
• Marillion – Script for a Jester’s Tear
• Fleetwood Mac – Sisters of the Moon
• Mostly Autumn – Heroes Never Die
• Panic Room – Endgame

OK, for the last two, perhaps enjoying isn’t quite the right word at the moment, but I’m including them for very strong personal reasons that I don’t really want to explain on a public forum.

In a lengthy post, HippyDave considers the pre-order campaigns from the likes of Marillion, The Reasoning and Mostly Autumn, and ponders the state of the music industry.

Could the labels have become their own worst enemies by not seeing/appreciating that some of these bands, with their established cult followings, might not be mainstream but would be a sound, long-term investment prospect? The industry is often – and rightly – pilloried for just this reason: the major labels have become so used to “firework” acts (one big bang and then it’s all over) that they’ve stopped looking at acts that require nurturing and time to produce their best work. There’s no way a band like Pink Floyd would have made it past their first two albums in the current climate, for instance: the suits would have listened to A Saucerful Of Secrets, decided that the band had lost the plot, and given them the axe. Yet look at the spectacular record sales that Floyd have accumulated over the years since – all because their label was willing to bankroll their development. Now, bands have to deliver the goods instantly or face being dropped. It’s all about sales, not artistry.

This is not a new argument – it’s been rehashed over and over since the late 70s, when disco – and then punk – arrived. However, as genres of music have increasingly fractured over the past two decades, so we have now arrived at a point in time where the music produced is more diverse and – in my opinion, of course – interesting than ever before – and yet the labels are playing Lowest Common Denominator. Just occasionally an atypical act – like Muse, for instance – will attract the attention of a major, having built up substantial groundroots support. Porcupine Tree and Dream Theater are both now reaping the rewards of a 15+ year-long struggle against the mainstream tide, having both signed recently to Roadrunner, one of the rare large labels with an independent attitude towards their roster. But for every band like them, another couple of dozen are waiting in the wings – some with sizeable fanbases who are more than happy to bankroll the band’s next release before it’s even recorded.

When people prophesy the death of the established music business accompanied by the sound of wailing and gnashing of teeth, my response is ‘bring it on’. Just about everyone producing worthwhile music will not suffer a great deal if most of the big record companies, along with the rest of the ideological infrastructure of the axis of mediocrity (such as the appalling NME or the dreaded Brit School) were to be flushed down the toilet of history.

On the subject of pre-orders, some people have been critical of the prices some bands are charging, with cries of ‘rip-off’.  While I’d have to say that twenty-five squid is a lot to pay for ‘just a CD’, I prefer to think of it in terms as an investment in the band.  What matters is not whether or not the CD alone gives value for money, but whether or not I get a return on that investment over the next year or so.  In my case, that has included seeing those bands live multiple times, and making quite a few new friends though the fan communities.  I certainly think I got my return on that investment last time round.

The Point in Cardiff is under threat!

According to this thread on The Reasoning’s forum, somebody who recently moved into a nearby property long after the place has been a rock venue is trying to get the place shut down because of the noise.

If you don’t want to see yet enough rock venue being forced to close, go and sign the online petition.

November always seems to be crazy for gigs, but this year, it’s just getting silly. My diary is getting full, and it’s only March!

First, the Marillion tour:

• Saturday 8th November Inverness
• Sunday 9th November Glasgow
• Monday 10th November Newcastle
• Tuesday 11th November Bristol
• Thursday 13th November Leeds
• Friday 14th November Manchester
• Saturday 15th November Bournemouth
• Monday 17th November TBC – UK
• Tuesday 18th November Nottingham
• Wednesday 19th November London Forum

Then Fish, supported on many dates by none other than The Reasoning

• Tuesday 11th – Runcorn, Brindley Theatre – support Stone Soul River
• Wednesday 12th – South Shields, Custom House – support SSR
• Friday 14th – Penzance, Acorn Studio – no support
• Saturday 15th – Frome, Cheese and Grain – support The Reasoning
• Sunday 16th – London, Shepherds Bush Empire – support The Reasoning
• Tuesday 18th – Bolton, Albert Halls – support The Reasoning
• Wednesday 19th – Pontadarwe, Arts Centre – support The Reasoning
• Thursday 20th – Norwich, The Waterfront – support SSR
• Saturday 22nd – Glasgow, Academy – support The Reasoning
• Sunday 23rd – York, Opera House – support The Reasoning
• Tuesday 25th – Telford, Oakengates Theatre – support SSR
• Wednesday 26th – Buxton, Opera House – support SSR

I’m going to have to think long and hard about which ones to go for in this lot. I’ve already got Mostly Autumn at York on the 28th Nov (Seat B14 booked!).  Marillion at Manchester is pretty much a definite, but which Fish/The Reasoning one to go for is still an open question. Bolton is the closest, London would have been a definite had it not been straight after Marillion in Manchester. York GOH might be fun (Security will be confiscating bows and arrows at the door at that one!)

Decisions, decisions….

I’ve finally got hold of the long-awaited debut album by Panic Room, “Visionary Position”. Because I’ve been away from home over Easter, the whole of teh internets (or at least the whole of the girlyprogosphere) has been going on about how wonderful it is. And all the time it had been sitting on my doormat when I couldn’t listen to it!

Full review when I’ve had the chance to give it a few listens.

Almost all the lineup for this year’s Cambridge Rock Festival on 17th-20th July has now been announced. Sunday’s bill just about makes me fall off my chair in amazement. With Marillion topping the bill, this is looking like an incredible day.

• Marillion
• Mostly Autumn
• The Reasoning
• Breathing Space

The entire festival runs for four days, and there seems to be a theme for each day (Friday is 70s pub-rock, Saturday is blues-rock with the current incarnation of Bad Company topping the bill). And Sunday is definitely prog day!

It looks like The Astoria is doomed

“The construction of Crossrail means that the Astoria can’t be saved”, the mayor said. He added that a new, plusher concert venue would be included in the new development in Tottenham Court Road. Mr Livingstone said: “It wasn’t at the cutting edge of modern comfort”.

Ken Livingstone really doesn’t get rock and roll, does he?.  The ‘plush new venue’ will be inevitably be as corporate and soulless as the political party he belongs to, with ticket prices to match. Rock venues are supposed to be hot and sweaty with beer-stained walls and floors. The best ones have character and history, with some of the essence of all the bands that played there imprinted in the building.

While The Astoria isn’t my favourite London venue, I’ve been to some great gigs there over the years, most recently Mostly Autumn’s Christmas show last year.  It will be missed.